APPEAL for Animals Stranded by Hurricane Ike

If you can, please help!

- UPDATE 10-25-08: Bay Area Pet Adoptions in San Leon, Texas was devastated by hurricane Ike and is in desperate need of donations to repair their buildings. View photos of the damage, and see their current needs here. Donations may be made on-line - for more information, please click here.

- Please see SRM's Hurricane Ike Animal Rescues blog for more updates, and to find more small organizations needing help.

- Updates on animal organizations may also be found on the Best Friends Network Texas news page.


Many animal organizations in Texas and other states have been impacted by the hurricane, and/or are helping animals affected by the hurricane. Learn more, or donate, by clicking on the links below:

- O'Malley Alley Cats in Lufkin needs contributions to help repair their facility. Please see this news story in the Lufkin Daily News.

- Noah's Ark Sanctuary in Cypress needs contributions for repairs to their facility.

- Whiskerville Sanctuary in Texas City needs contributions to buy a generator and care for many rescued animals.

- Spindletop Pit Bull Rescue in Willis needs contributions to repair their facility - read more here.

- Cinnamon's Companions Animal Sanctuary near Houston is in need of funding to transport cats and kittens to Purrfect Angels Sanctuary in California. More details have been posted on the Best Friends Network here.

- Habitat for Horses is rescuing and caring for horses on Galveston Island, and also needs help to rebuild their own facilities, which were damaged by the hurricane. Learn more, or donate, here.


The Houston SPCA has taken in animals from the Galveston Animal Shelter, and Galveston County, as well as the Brazoria County SPCA. They have also set up a temporary shelter on Galveston Island to care for the animals who are still being rescued there. Also helping rescue animals in the affected areas are the other members of the Texas State Animal Resource Team:
SPCA of Texas

The Humane Society of Missouri Disaster Response Team

The Denver Dumb Friends League

The Louisiana SPCA

Code 3 Associates

SPCAla Disaster Animal Response Team

Humane Society of the Pike's Peak Region


- The Humane Society of Southeast Texas, the Humane Society/SPCA of Bexar County, the Waco Humane Society, the SPCA of Texas and other regional shelters are taking in and caring for evacuated animals.

- Texas AgriLife Extension is coordinating relief efforts to provide food and water for 20,000 cattle and horses who are now roaming in several Southeast Texas counties following Hurricane Ike. You can donate to the "No Fences Hurricane Ike Horse and Cattle Relief Fund" here. Hay, feed, water troughs and portable panels are also needed.

- The Wildlife Rehab & Education Center in Houston is caring for wild animals who were injured during the storm. You can donate to them here. For more details, please see this post on the Best Friends Network.

- Pets America has been working with the Red Cross to care for animals that
were evacuated to shelters.

- Several national animal groups are doing animal search and rescue, assisting shelters (and helping in other ways) in areas affected by the hurricane:

Best Friends Rapid Reponse Team

Humane Society of the United States Disaster Center

United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service

North Shore Animal League America Emergency Rescue

International Fund for Animal Welfare Emergency Relief Team

American Humane Associate Animal Emergency Services

ASPCA Disaster Relief


If you know of another organization that is caring for animals stranded after Hurricane Ike, please leave a comment on this post so we can add it to the list.

Many thanks to Jennifer Hayes of the Best Friends Network for her help in compiling these links!

by mishkat

APPEAL for Help with Medical Expenses for Cats at Meow or Never!

Help with medical expenses is urgently needed for three cats at It's Meow or Never Animal Rescue and Sanctuary!

The Sanctuary recently had some unexpected emergency vet expenses, and are in need of monetary donations to help these three cats, Sweetie, Max, and Donovan.

Sweetie has a urinary infection. Her medications/treatment will cost around $150.00.

Max (pictured to the left) has a polyp in his ear and needs surgery to remove it. It could be cancer. The vet said it would be $250.00 for his surgery.

Donovan is not eating, he has diarrhea and he needs his eye removed. He can't wait any longer for help.

You can see photos of Donovan, Sweetie, and Max (along with many other wonderful animals) here.

It's Meow or Never says "Please help these precious kitties. Donovan is just the sweetest kitty, he really enjoys life. He was playing yesterday and now today, he is just walking around, and he won't eat or drink either. Sweetie is a good girl and Max is a great long haired male kitty. Please donate whatever you can because we truly do not have it."

To make a donation, please visit http://www.itsmeowornever.org/donations.asp. They thank you in advance for your support.

Sugar Glider Rescue: Hope for Gliders

Do you know what a sugar glider is? I didn't, until I began reading about EFA member kaczie's charity - a sugar glider rescue called Hope For Gliders. I asked kaczie (Danielle) for more information and she responded with a great write-up about gliders and glider rescue, and wonderful photos of her own two sugar gliders and their cage. These beautiful and sensitive animals are abandoned far too often - thankfully, there are caring people out there who are helping them.

Danielle says:

Sugar gliders are small, nocturnal, arboreal marsupials native to Australia that have a gliding membrane called the patagium that extends between their front and back legs. They can live up to 15 years in captivity (4-6 years in the wild). They bond by scent and will form a strong bond with their main caretakers. In the wild, they live in colonies of up to 30 gliders, so in captivity, they need to be kept in pairs or larger groups. They eat insects, small vertebrates, and sap of the eucalyptus, acacia and gum trees and extract the juice from their meals by pushing the food between their two front teeth.

Gliders are becoming more common as pets because they have few health problems and form a close bond to their owner, something that most other small pets do not. However, glider ownership must be carefully considered - gliders require daily attention, out of cage time, a large cage (most people use large bird flight cages), fresh nightly prepared meals from one of the "accepted" glider diets available (there are no commercially prepared glider foods), are messy eaters who get food everywhere, and must have access to stimulating toys. If gliders don't have these things, they will become bored and depressed, and can develop health problems. Many people do not have the time to dedicate to these creatures for 15 years.

Unfortunately, people purchase gliders on impulse, and don't realize how much work they can be, so gliders often end up being dumped at rescues (or worse yet, being dumped outside). They sometimes are bounced from home to home but eventually, many will end up in a rescue. Change stresses gliders, so a glider rescue may become a glider's forever home simply so the glider can relax and finally feel loved/wanted. Other times, they will be adopted out to caring new homes that have been prescreened by the rescue.

Glider rescue requires funding and dedication. Since gliders require fresh meals every single night, rescues go through a lot of food. Because gliders are exotic animals, vet costs are not cheap and many vets are not experienced enough to handle glider care. Rescues must cover these expenses for each and every glider, and also provide them a cage, toys, bedding materials, specialized wheels, companionship, and more.

For more information, or if you'd like to help, please see
Hope for Gliders website
Jeanne's Hope for Gliders blog on the Best Friends Network
Gliders available for adoption from Hope for Gliders
(Hope for Gliders currently does only local adoptions in the Dallas, TX area, but may be able to provide referrals to rescues in other areas.)
by mishkat

Meet Mishkat

EFA gets a lot of help from members, all 100% voluntary and done with the interests of animals at its very heart. One of the hard working members in the current EFA team is Katie aka 'Mishkat'. You will find her commenting on threads regularly to keep them prominent on the Etsy Forum encouraging sellers, and using her non-seller talents to help EFA in every way she can. I recently interviewed Katie to spotlight her commitment and hard work..........

"Where in the world are you?

I'm in southwestern Virginia in the USA. I am an environmental scientist and work in research and extension at Virginia Tech.

Do you have any animals of your own?

I have three cats: Franklin, my gray Etsy avatar cat; Tasha, a tortoiseshell; and Dobby, a large orange tabby. I love all animals, but am particularly partial to cats.

FRANKLIN

How did you discover Etsy for Animals?

I found out about Etsy for Animals through Renovia of endlesswhimsy, who made some wonderful custom cat sculptures for me. I then saw a forum thread about the EFA shop a few weeks after it started, purchased something, and got a really nice note from Michele (mvegan5) thanking me for buying. I asked her if there was anything I could do to help out, and she said that I could help bump some of the EFA threads on the forum. I've been doing that ever since.

What gives you the most satisfaction in helping out with EFA?

I am not able to work directly in animal rescue, although I have the deepest admiration for those who do. So I've always tried to contribute money – my friends who work in animal rescue and welfare say that this is also a excellent way to help out. Working with EFA is a way I can assist in raising money for these very important causes, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.

DOBBY

Do you have any tips for EFA members?

One really simple thing anyone can do is put information about EFA in their Etsy shop announcement and/or profile. I found out about EFA after reading endlesswhimsy's announcement. And since I'm a buyer-only, clicking on my Etsy avatar takes people straight to my profile. I have information about EFA there, and several people have asked me about it – two sellers have told me that they found out about EFA after reading my profile.

Another thing that is easy to do is bump the forum threads about EFA. There is a dedicated group of friendly EFA thread-bumpers but we could always use company – please feel free to chime in and tell us about your pets, your latest creation, the weather - or just say hi. We've had both sellers and buyers find out about EFA and the EFA shop from the forum threads.

And my tip to EFA sellers is: put "EFA" in your tags! This helps other EFA members find you for EFA treasuries, and also helps those who'd like to buy from EFA sellers.

Where do you think EFA needs help?

I was a member of Etsy for months before I realized that EFA existed, and I know there are a lot of other people who, like me, would love to support EFA by buying or selling but don't know about it. Promoting EFA both on and off Etsy can help to help reach these people. For example, Celeste of CricketsCreations recently did an interview with Michele on her blog on the Best Friends Animal Society Network (http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/Detail.aspx?b=1679). The network has a large audience of people who care about animals, and who may not have heard about EFA - or Etsy - before.

EFA also requires a lot of work behind the scenes. I can't say enough to praise the work that Michele, El (elephantdance), shessochic, 4utheworld, WHSKR, darktemptations, midnightrabbits, woodnvisions, and all the other people who help out with the shop, blog, Yahoo group, Flickr groups, Etsy forums, and promos are doing. (I wish I could name everyone here!) But help is always needed – Michele, El, and others will often post requests for assistance on the EFA Yahoo group, so I'd encourage those who want to do more to check in there - or just ask!

TASHA


Thanks for interviewing me!"